Vintage Aircraft

A decade ago, Hualdo Mendoza was in trouble, mixed up with the gang life and kicked out of school. Today, he is a leading expert on a highly specialized aviation art: the restoration of fabric aircraft skins. That skill recently landed him a seat in a U.S. Air Force supersonic trainer, a thank you from the Hat in the Ring squadron.

Soon after an aborted effort to ground warbirds, the FAA is gathering public comment on whether they should be subject to new restrictions. The input gained will help the FAA decide the fate of future requests to exempt vintage military aircraft from revenue passenger restrictions.

In honor of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Piper J-3 Cub, hundreds of Cub owners and pilots plan to fly from Hartford, Wis., to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh on Sunday, July 22, according to Rick Rademacher, one of the organizers of Cubs 2 Oshkosh.

The nation's airworthy warbirds have survived, for now, another attempt to knock them out of the sky. Warbird operators and enthusiasts bombarded lawmakers with calls and letters as word spread of a proposed amendment to defense legislation that would have grounded vintage military aircraft.

Pilots can help promote general aviation and serve their communities by creating charitable events at airports, or adding a charitable element to an existing aviation event. Here are tips for creating a charitable event or helping an existing cause.

The airshow, warbird, and racing communities all mourned the loss of Howard Pardue, 77, who died April 4 when his vintage Grumman F8F Bearcat crashed just after takeoff from Stephens County Airport in Breckenridge, Texas.

The Commemorative Air Force has grown from a small band of pilots who purchased a P-51 in 1957 into a world leader in warbirds, with 9,000 members operating 156 vintage aircraft to honor American military aviation history and heritage. As the organization looks to the future, the door has been opened to the next generation willing and able to take up the mission.

As the AOPA Favorite Aircraft Challenge now enters the home stretch toward the finals on April 1 and 2, March 29's round of eight voting was some of the busiest so far in the tournament. By late afternoon some of those Round Four contests were still too close to call, so watch the AOPA website for the latest results after final votes are tallied.

The P-51 Mustang continued slicing and dicing, eliminating the King Air in a blowout in AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge. The unstoppable F4U Corsair took out the popular Cessna 172; the Mooney M20 couldn't best the lovable Piper J-3 Cub, and the Beech Staggerwing eliminated the Stearman PT-17.

Hard work and good grades bring many rewards. For Joshua Gutierrez, a student at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy, the rewards include a college scholarship to study aeronautical engineering, and, on March 26, a ride in a vintage warbird.

Mike Porter paused in mid-sentence and cocked his head, listening to the distinctive sound of a radial engine overhead. A veteran restorer of Stearman biplanes, Porter explained apologetically that radials always make his ears perk up. There was a lot of that going around as aircraft converged on Lakeland, Fla., for Sun 'n Fun.

The final results of Round Two in the West Region of AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge demonstrated that the older vintage and warbird aircraft have come to play, and are not going to let many modern flying machines stands between them and the finals.

Just like a certain other basketball bracket challenge, as teams - or in our case, aircraft - are eliminated, what is left in AOPA's Favorite Aircraft Challenge are some stellar matchups. Let's wrap up more second round contests, and try to determine which aircraft in the East Region will make it past the third round.

Why show up in an ordinary Cadillac when you could have brought a classic Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud limo? That's the sort of analogy that would describe taxiing up to the ramp in the rare Beagle B206, compared to any other light twin. The Beagle is radically different enough to swing the heads of even casual ramp lurkers.

With its rounded lines and roly-poly looks, the Ercoupe looks like it would be right at home with a smiley face painted on its nose. And why not? The Ercoupe is one of the simplest, easiest, safest, and most fun airplanes you could want. It's also among the least expensive to buy and fly on the used market today and, despite its age, has a robust parts and owner support network.

Keeping user fees out of the new FAA reauthorization bill was a "big win" for general aviation--but vigilance and education efforts must continue, said Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.), the House GA Caucus co-chairman and member of the conference committee that produced the final bill.

Since its beginnings, the Mooney name has been synonymous with speed. Pilots like to go fast, and Mooney marketing knew that--and has played up the speed credentials for practically every airplane to ever come out of the Kerrville, Texas, factory. But today is a different day.

Big Bear City Airport (L35) is the gateway to year-round activities. Located in a wide valley ringed by the peaks of the San Bernardino Mountains, Big Bear City Airport is a hop, skip, and a long climb away from the Los Angeles Basin and its surroundings.

FAA Operations Manager Boyd Martin said working the air traffic control tower at the Sebring U.S. Sport Aviation Expo is a thrill, comparing it to "an adrenaline rush," similar to what skydivers or bungee jumpers feel when they take the plunge.